AC says INEC goofed on Ngige
The Action Congress (AC) has described as ‘a deliberate act of deceit choreographed to achieve a pre-designed goal’ a statement credited to INEC that Dr. Chris Ngige is not a candidate in the forthcoming elections because no party submitted his name.
In a statement issued in Abuja by its national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Muhammad yesterday, AC expressed shock and disappointment that the incompetent INEC had added deceit and lies to the list of problems besetting it in the run-up to the crucial polls.
“For the avoidance of doubt, our party, AC, did submit the name of Dr. Chris Ngige to INEC as our gubernatorial candidate for Anambra state, and this was duly acknowledged by the commission,” the party said.
“INEC also displayed his name in the list of candidates who were cleared to contest, and we have a proof of this,” it added.
On INEC’s claim that Ngige did not undergo verification, AC said INEC acknowledged that Dr. Ngige could not participate in the exercise because of ill-health.
“For the same INEC to suddenly turn around to deny having anything to do with Dr. Ngige plays into the hands of those who had suspected that an organization that is supposed to be an unbiased umpire has now become a player in the game,” the party said.
It wondered whether INEC simply succumbed to the pressure from its masters, who must have been swept off their feet by the massive reception being accorded to Dr. Ngige everywhere, especially in Anambra, since his return from the US.
“We have said it many times and we will say it again, INEC will attract nothing but public opprobrium for itself if it continues to dance to the tune of its puppeteers and cohorts, instead of staying well above aboard, in the organization of the forthcoming polls,” AC said.
“At the end of the day, INEC will be judged by the success or failure of the April polls, not by how well it is able to lick the spittle of those bent on manipulating or truncating the elections for themselves or their cronies,” the party added.
AC said Dr. Ngige remained its candidate for the gubernatorial election in Anambra, and expressed the confidence that the former governor will ride on the crest of his solid performance while in office to easily win the election.